Welcome to Laboratories of Democracy, a series for Vox’s The Highlight, where we examine local policies and their impacts.
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Laboratories of Democracy
Exploring the nation’s most intriguing experiments in local policy.
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February 13, 2020
Why New York’s free college program is still costing its students
Being a student is expensive beyond tuition — if you can even afford to be full-time.
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January 20, 2020
“King-Lee Day” and other ways states bend MLK’s legacy
How can some places use the federal holiday to honor "human rights" and Confederate generals — and not the civil rights leader?
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December 17, 2019
Almost 90 years after Prohibition, some places are still dry. Why is that?
How Prohibition lives on in counties across the nation.
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December 6, 2019
Hundreds of wacky, obsolete laws still exist. Why don’t more states remove them?
Historical statues about runaway pigs, pinball machines and obscene bumper stickers are still occasionally enforced. Here’s why they stay on the books.
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November 15, 2019
Hurricane Katrina inspired a national pet evacuation policy. The plan could save human lives, too.
People are more likely to evacuate if they can find safe passage for their pets, too.
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October 31, 2019
Prop 65 was meant to protect Californians from toxic water. How did warning stickers end up on everything?
A local law has meant cancer warnings adorn everything from bikinis and faux leather jackets to certain foods and, for a while, coffee.
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October 18, 2019
Affordable housing is disappearing. So cities are designating parking lots to sleep in.
People slipping in and out of homelessness need "safe" parking lot programs like these.
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October 10, 2019
These laws were meant to protect people from HIV. They’ve only increased stigma and abuse.
Laws in many states make it a crime to have sex without disclosing your HIV status. Advocates say they may actually worsen the spread of the virus.
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October 1, 2019
How a brief socialist takeover in North Dakota gave residents a public bank
North Dakota’s government-owned bank has been a celebrated institution for a century. Now California might get one, too.
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September 13, 2019
Austin’s failed attempt to regulate Uber and Lyft foreshadowed today’s controversies
How will the companies react to California’s new regulations? Ask Austin.
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August 27, 2019
Do plastic bag taxes or bans curb waste? 400 cities and states tried it out.
And will it work for plastic straws?
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August 12, 2019
Washington, DC, showed how to do universal pre-K right
DC offers free pre-K for toddlers. The ripple effects helped K-12 students too.
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July 31, 2019
San Francisco voters rank their candidates. It’s made politics a little less nasty.
Ranked choice voting could be the future of elections in America.
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July 25, 2019
How a Bay Area ban on feeding squirrels and birds ended up saving their lives
Feeding animals can seem helpful. But it does more harm than good.
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July 22, 2019
Laboratories of Democracy: what Seattle learned from having the highest minimum wage in the nation
The city adopted a $15 minimum wage four years ago. Here’s what happened.